Laundry Remodel

March 11th, 2010

A lot of folks were curious about where this funky bathroom/laundry room actually was located…and no it’s not near a pool and we don’t really have a need for a mud room being mostly weather-less in California and we lack the privacy for an outdoor shower. I wish we had the pool dilemma.

The bathroom is connected to the kitchen and both (as well as the den) exit out onto the back porch. That water heater? Yeah – it’s worse in real life. Still working on a plan for that bad boy.

Here is my magical first draft remodel plan that is vaguely concerned with price, but honestly, mostly concerned with aesthetics. I kept the door and made it usable and now it’s suddenly sexy single panel with a glass insert.

Here is the rundown:

-Washer and Dryer : Two separate units that stack. Located at the old sink plumbing.

*Need to do to make it happen : Buy the actual machines, rewire the 220volt plug through the roof and drop into the corner. Where to vent? Hmmmm. Don’t know.

-Sink : Install a deep, but modern large sink on a floating cabinet. (To store cleaners and laundry stuff.)

*Need to do to make it happen : The water lines are already there, but there is no drainage. Install a drain, buy the sink, faucet and cabinet.

– Shower : Tear it down, but keep it located in the same area. I want one nice shower for resale and also for personal enjoyment. I love showers.

*Need to do to make it happen : Relocate the plumbing from the interior wall to exterior wall. Install subway tile and a little bench to sit on. Glass door and shower pan. Buy faucets and hardware.

– Electrical breaker box : Flip to the interior of the poopicle.

*Need to do to make it happen : Hmmm. Flip? Probably need an electrician.

Look how awesome I’m getting at Google sketchup! F*ck yeah. What I meant to say before that bit of self aggrandizing is that from the kitchen it would look more like a laundry room and therefore not totally as random as a full bathroom next to the fridge.

And yeah. I’m slowly building out the whole house in sketchup. Cause I’m CRAZY PANTS.

FILED UNDER: laundry, sketchup

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Laundry Room

March 9th, 2010

What lurks behind that mysterious pocket door in the kitchen?

HURL. It’s the laundry room.

Oh yeah. It’s FUGLY.

These are old pics from a few years ago and it’s only gotten worse if you can imagine.

With my new and improved Google Sketchup powers (thanks all for the great tips! I’m starting to get the hang of this shit) I built out the laundry room as it currently is. This is the view from the kitchen! The room is only 9′ x 9′ and houses the washer and dryer (in ODD locations), a utility sink, shower, closet and toilet cubicle as well as the secondary breaker box.

Here is a view from above.

Now for the tour. To the right you’ll see the 3′ wide toilet “poopicle”, then squeeze on by the dryer on the left that is installed through and on an exterior door, the utility sink is on your left if you can once again squeeze by the dryer sticking out in the middle of the room. The washing machine is on your right and then there is the tiny musty shower with a shower head installed at about 4′ high and a ceiling that’s at about 6′. Just a wee bit claustrophobic and almost impossible to wash your hair.

There is a huge closet though…

Here you can see the breaker box on the wall of the toilet poopicle and the dryer wedged into the defunct doorway. The Brick House was rigged up this way when we moved and it’s been on my “priority list” for when we somehow run into a big pile of money. I’m not even sure how to slap lipstick on this pig so I’ve just left it, with the awesome teal paint and plastic tiles falling off the walls.

Ohhhh x-ray vision.

Look at that huge closet. Guess whose going to get turned into a shower! And here is that little cramped and useless second shower. Only used in the direst of emergencies.

My mission is this: With my new found sketchup power I’m going to stop ignoring this beast and get going on a plan of action. My questions for you are these…

-We have one FULL bathroom. Should I keep the shower and just remake it so it’s usable? Or is it weird to have a big shower off your kitchen totally far away from the rest of the house?

-Stackable or side by side laundry? Pros and cons?

-The sink may have to go. Is it weird to have a toilet, shower and NO sink off the kitchen?

-How the hell do you brick up that stupid door? Should it get turned into an exterior door again? Or a giant window?

This whole room is one giant clusterf*ck. No wonder we’ve been ignoring it.

FILED UNDER: before, laundry, question, readers, sketchup

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Google Sketchup

March 5th, 2010

I am desperately trying to learn how to use Google Sketchup and it may just be the most frustrating program I’ve toyed with in a LONG while. Screw you Sketchup and your complicated rules and axis and inferring and lines not crossing.

As an experimentation project I wanted to model out The Brick House including the patio project and my proposal for a horizontal slat screen on the front porch and a matching slat wood gate for the driveway. It took me awhile to figure out that you could load already prepared 3-D elements…

Wow, that is way wonky. But you can kind of get the idea about the slats? Right?

Look a grapefruit tree! Much cleaner and much more well trimmed than ours.

There are all those pesky pavers in a virtual world…and they are still a pain to install. I haven’t figured out how to add gravel yet.

The roof was the worst thing to make, OMG geometry is not my strong suit. This little blank model represents about a good solid two days of intense work. Slow and steady as I tried to figure it out, watching tutorials and looking around at the 3-D warehouse. I may start again and try to get it all cleaned up and done correctly…I can’t wait to start redesigning the laundry room.

Anybody else play with this Sketchup beast? Any tips or tricks?

I can see the appeal and want to get a little more competent, but that learning curve is mighty steep.

FILED UNDER: question, readers, sketchup

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